Ten Minutes of Reading

 Ok, so I timed myself and everything.

Today I have been reading at Vent, a lovely coffee shop, not at home.  Why?  Not sure.  Home has a good desk set up for laptop work (writing, the million emails, administrivia, teaching prep), but currently, honestly, not a good reading spot.  I mentioned the couch in my last post, but the couch is actually so well positioned for watching TV . . . 

I am going to steal an armchair out of my son's basement gaming room and make a reading nook somewhere on the main floor.  Stay tuned.

Anyway, here are my notes from the coffee shop.

    Ten minutes went by really fast.  I could read for longer, and I guess for work I often do. I have practice which gives me an unfair advantage (Are we competing, gentle reader?).  

     I was distracted by: the music (a cover of a song I almost but couldn't quite recognize), the man next to me (who drank two double espressos in quick succession, chased by a small glass of fizzy water and a phonecall in Russian), and wondering if the barista would give me more hot water for my tea (I waited and asked after reading).  Actually it's a bit hot in here too.

    Honestly it was all slightly uncomfortable.  Why am I not reading in libraries more often?  It's what they are for.  Reading.  In a quiet place.  This is obvious, but struck me like an epiphany: Oh right!  LIBRARIES.

    I accidentally started my reading of Reilly's Greta and Valdin at a place I had marked because I thought it was funny, not at the spot I had actually finished reading at last night:

        "I hope Freya doesn't say anything too weird to her."

       He shakes his head.  "I can't guarantee that.  My friend Ben came over a few months ago, and it really felt like she was implying that if he didn't want to be in a relationship with a horse, then he didn't really respect all living beings." 

  The fact that I started here meant the rest of my reading was re-reading pages I had already read at bedtime: an interesting experiment in itself.  Which is more distracting, fatigue or cafe-life mid afternoon? I noticed more things, and cross referenced the "Characters" page for clarification more often. I think my mid-afternoon brain is sharper, but that it is also less settled.  I think it's easier to write than to read at this time of day (this post is also being written at Vent).  I think if I read for longer I would be distracted more, but also, would read more deeply when I was reading . . . ?  A theory to test.

Aiming for 15-20 next time.  Meet you there, friend.